Fruit-coring and stem-removing method and apparatus



July l, 1930. A. l.. DUNCAN 1,769,664

` FRI/11T coRING AND STEM REMovING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed March 26. 1927 3 Sheets-$heet l abbozmq A. L. DUNCAN July l, 1930.

FRUIT coRING AND STEM REMOVING METHOD AND APPARATUS I Filed March 26. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 In/vento@ MMM @M attoz nu,

July 1, 1930. A. DUNCAN :1,769,554

FRUIT CORING AND STEM REMOVING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed March 26. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet '3 from fruit.

Patented July l, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE ARTHUR L. DUNCAN, OE 'PIEDMONL CALIFORNIA, AssIGNoR To ACME CANNING MA- CHINEs,v COMPANY, OE RENO, NEVADA, A CORPORATION OE NEVADA I ERUIT-CORING AND STEM-REMOVING METHOD ANn APPARATUS .Y .Application iiled March v26, 1927. Serial No. 178,575. i

This invention relates to methods and apparatus forremoving the cores and stems More particularly the invention relates to methods and apparatus for coring and stemming fruits such as pears, apples and the like that have been cutl into halves on longitudinal planes. It is the pri' mary Object of the invention to provide machines and methods to automatically perform the above mentioned operations with precision and with -a minimum amount of handling by operatives. In applyng the invention to coring and stemming pears, use

is made of' theobserved fact that the cor'e of a pear invariably occupies substantially the same position with respect to the blossom end of the fruit. Accordingly, if the pear is positioned with respect to that end it is entirely practicable to bring the fruit to correct position with respect to a core .re`

moving means.

A principal object of the invention is to provide apparatus and methods including thelpositioning of the fruit to be cored by bringing the blossom end into predetermined relation to a coring means.

Another object of lthe invention is to provide a pear coring machine in which the flesh ing drawings in which,

of the half pear around the core-is firmly supported while the core is being cut therefrom and which includes means to yieldingly press the pear half toward the-coring means.

Still another object of the invention is to' furnish a machine in which the fruit halves are automatically Acarried through a sequence of operations and then discharged,

the services of an operatorbeing required only to feed the halves to the machine.

A further-object of the invention is to provide methods and apparatus `for automatically removing the stem from fruit such as pears, apples, and the like.

Further objects of the 'invention will apl-` pear as the description of the invention proceedsl with reference to` the` accompany.

Figurell is an elevation of an embodiment of my invention in the use of which my improved method is employed.

'Figure2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, certain of the pear halves being removed to show the core and stem removing means.

-Figure 3 is a vertical section onv the line 3-3 of Figure l, the coring knife being shown in its uppermost position.

Figure 4 is a similar view on the line 4.--4 of. Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an end elevation of themachine viewed froin the left end of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing a modification including fruit cen',- tering and holding means.

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing the construction of the stops employedI in the modiication of Figure 6. Y

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan View' showing a -further modification in which holding means that move with the stops are employed. y

In the drawings, like numerals indicate like parts through the several views.

Rotatably supported on a suitable frame 6 are vpulleys 7 and 8., Pulley 7 is an idle or guide pulley. Pulley S is preferably driven intermittently by means presently to be described, though it may be driven continuously if desired. Spacedendless belts 9 and 10 separated. by a gap 11 pass around said pulleys. Belts 9 and 10maybe made of any suitable material. Matched substantially semi-circular recesses 12 and 13 are provided in belts 9 and 10. A number of such recesses are provided at equally spaced intervals along the belts, each interval corresponding to the travel of the belt durmachine. `Diverging fruit positioning stops 14 and 15 are arranged on belts 9 and 10 and secured thereto in any Well known manne-r. `Stops 14 and I15 are spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate the bloslng one cycle of the intermittently operating:

are so located with .respect to the matched I recessesk l2 and 13 that when a pear half is placed between them the core` thereof will.

be positioned above said recesses. -The fleshof the pear half will be supported at the same time on the v'portions of the belts surrounding said recesses. J ournaled in longitudinal frame members 16 (see Fig. 3) is a transverse shaft 17 having a curved knife 18 secured thereto. Knife 18 is proportioned and arranged to swing upwardly and rear- -wardly through the matched belt recesses to remove the core from thefruit when the latterv is brought into position thereover. lAs shown,kni e 18 forms a closed loop with shaft 17. If desired the knife may form l 10 v an open loop with said shaft.

Arranged above knife 18V is a plate 19 held spaced above the belt and yieldingly pressed toward the belt by coil springs vsurrounding bolts 20' that are adapted to slide 'vertically in suitableholes in longitudinal frame member 21, permitting vertical yielding movement of lplate 1-9 with relation to the belts. The endsgof plate 19 are turned upwardly as shown at 22 so that fruit vof differing sizes may readily be brought into `position beneath said plate.

A lstem removing knife 23 in the form of a loop is secured to a bracket 24 carried by yframe 6. The closed end of` said loop is in- V i knife 23, a reciprocatingknife having a the core is being removed -at another station.

. looped form as shown on the drawings may be used. Such a knife would be mounted to-slide on. an elongated bracket, the slide belng actuated by a suitable crank arm se- -cured'to knife shaft 17 and a suitable connecting link Vjoining the end of said arm to the slide. In this way the stem would be removed a't one station from one-half while The slide justreferred to maybe' caused to be bodily retracted intermittently in which event the single belt 4havin a plurality of longitudinally arranged ey 'hole slots spaced equal Vdistances may be used instead of the two spaced belts above described, the

, circular portion of said slot permitting the coring lmife tb have vaccess to the fruit andthe straight portion of the key hole slot permitting reciprocation of the stem- Arranged above the stem removing knife 23v is a plate 23 secured to longitudinal frame. member 21 so that-the plate presses yieldingly against the fruit-halves, the construction whereby the yielding mounting of the plate Vis secured being thefsame as that used to yieldingly secure plate 19 to the frame of the machine as clearly shown on the drawings.- Preferably, plate 23 .is concave as'viewed from below to -increase the area lof contact between this plate and o movement lthe fruit. Plate 19 may be similarly lmade concave for the same purpose, if desired.

Power is transmitted to the machine by a belt 26 driven in any convenient manner and which passes around a pulley 27 sel cured to a shaft 28 journaled on the frame of the `machine in any well known way.- Secured to the pulley 27 is an inwardly flanged disk 29 carrying an arm 30 having a pin l31 secured thereto. A Geneva gear 32 is keyed to a shaft 33 carried by the frame. Said gear has radial slots 34 and locking depressions 35 desi ed to receive the flange on disk 29 to hold the mechanism at rest intermittently. Pin 31 engages radial slots 34 in succession rotating shaft 33 through one-fourth of a revolution.. A

large gear 36 secured to shaft 33 meshes with a smaller gear 37 keyed to the shaft 38 that carries the driven pulley 8, the arl rangement being'such that the pulley makes a full revolution for each quarter turn of gear 32. A

Shaft 28 carries a second disk 39 having a pin 40 and a locking ange 41 engaging a second Geneva gear 42, of the construction above described. The pins 31 and 40 are angularly spaced about axis of shaft 28 so that pin 4() is enteringa slot in gear 42 at the time pin 3l is leaving a slot in gear 32. In this way gears 42 and 32 are rotated intermittently in succession.

Secured to gear 42 V1s al la'rge sprocket wheel 43 connected by a sprocket chain 44' to a sprocket 45v secured to shaft '17* before referred to. l

In the operation of this machine-above described, the operator takes the pear halves as they are delivered from the hand paring,

halving, and trimming operators, or from the paring and halving machines. These halves are to have the lcore and stem ends belts 9 and 10, bringing the blossom-end of Y the half against the diverging stops 14 and 15 and the stem section over gap llas shown in Figure 2. This will center the coreof the pear overa set of matched recesses 12 and 13. The belts will carry the halves thus placed in succession to the coring station where the halves will` pass beneath the member 19 which will firmly press the pear half onthe belts. belt fee'd will -stop the belts with -the matched recesses over the coring knife 18. The Geneva gear 42 that operates knife 18 is timed to rotate it while the gear 32 that actuates the belts maintains it at rest. Accordingly when thehalf arrives at the coring station and stops the coring knife will perform a complete revolution in the course of which it will enter the matched recesses The intermittent and remove the core. A suitable inclined chute may be arranged beneath knife 18 to divert the removed corel from the lower belt flight to a suitable waste receptacle.

The belts then move another step and as the half is moved toward the discharge end of the machine it is caused to be moved against stationary stemming cutter 23 that projects in its path and removes an inverted '10 V-shaped cut including the stem from the pear half. As the rotation of the belt conf tinues the cored and stemmed halves drop from the belt into a receptacle 45 4provided to receive them.

It will be observed that the matched recesses 12 and 13 in belts 9 and 10 are arranged so thatthe coring knife 18 will move J close to thel edges of said recesses. This arrangement serves to firmly support the flesh 20 of the half at the points where the core is cut and in this way contributes to the production of clean cut edges.

In order to center and hold the fruit half with its. longitudinal axis extending in the direction of travel of the belt, the centering and holding means shown in Figure 6 may be used. In this modification of the invention, the stops 14 and 15 position the fruit on the belts as above described. At the coring station, however, a plurality of pairs of leaf springs 46, 47, and 48 are secured to the stationary `side bars 16. The ends of said leaf springs press inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the fruit, passing through recesses 49 cut in the stops 14 and 15 as shown in detail in Figure -7. The springs of each pair 46, 47 and 48 press inwardly with equal pressures. Accordingly Yas the fruit halves enter between said springs .they will be centered accurately. At the same time the springs hold the fruit firmly from lateral movement during the coring operation. In Figure 8 a further modification` of a fruit holding means is shown. This modification may be used instead of that shown iny Figures .6 and 7 In this form, spring arms that are inherent-ly flexible, and 51, are pivoted in recesses 49 of stops 14 and 15 on 50 pins52 and 53.9 Arms 54 and 55 are rigidly secured to spring arms 50 and 51u in any manner. Each arm 54and 55 carries an anti-friction roller 56 mounted in the end thereof. Suitable coil springs '.57 hold the spring arms firmly in contact with the fruit positioned by the stops 14 and 15. When no fruit is so positioned. the ends of the spring arms are normally in'contact. In order to release the'tension of springs 57 and retract the spring arms 50 and 51 .at the feeding station, suitable stationary cams 58 and 59 are securedto frame members 16 adjacent said station. As will be readily understood, the engagement of rollers 56 with cams 58 and 59 as the belts approach the feeding stationv cause the springs 50 and -51 I to separate permitting the fruit to be readily positioned against stops 14 and 15. As the belts move 'toward the coring station the rollers 57 will ride off of the gradually rounded ends 60 and 61 of cams 58 and 59 thus causing the spring arms 50` and 51 to gently engage and thus center and hold the fruit from lateral movement during the subsequent operations. Suitable pins placed in the path of movement of the arms 54 and 55 will serve to release the spring arms 50 and 51 to discharge into receptacle 45 heretofore referred to.

The invention has been above described in some detail. However,`the invention-does sol not reside in such detail but the scope thereof is to be determined from the following claims. 1

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of cring fruit which comprises positioning the halves of the fruit so that the blossom end thereof assumes a definite relation 'to the path of movement of a coring knife, and then cutting a core section from the halved fruit by manipulating the knifeto cause it to follow a predetermined path. A

, 2. The method of coring pears, which comprises positioning the halves of the pear Hatwise on a support so that the blossom end thereof assumes a definite-relation to the path of movement of a coring knife, bearing on the half yieldingly to hold it in .said definite relation and then cutting a core section from the halved pear by manipulating the 4knife in a path predetermined with respect to the definite position of the blossom end of the pear on said support.

3. That step in the method of coring a halved fruit which comprises positioning the lhalved fruit so that the blossom end thereof assumes a definite relation with respect to the predetermined fixed path of movementmf a means to cut the core from said half.

4. That step in the method of cutting the core from a halved pear which consists in centering the pear half with respect to a coring means that follows a fixed predetermined path by locating said half with respect to the blossom end thereof. Y

5. The method of removing the core and stem of a halved pear which comprises positioning the blossom end. of a halved pear in f definite relation to the path of movement of a coring knife, removing the core while the half is heldin said position and then re moving the stem by moving thel half with respect to a stem removing means. Y

6. The' method of removing the stem of a cored and halved yfruit which consists in moving the fruit half in a predetermined path in a direction parallel to the length `of of said pear half with respect to the perforation in said support, means to hold the pear half on said support withthe core over said perforation, and means .projecting through said perforation to remove said core.

8. A pear coring machine comprising a traveling support having a plurality of perforations therein Iapproximately the outline iof the core of a pear half, means on saidsupport to position said half with the blossom end thereof in proper position with respect to said perforation, means to cause said support to bring the halves positioned thereon in succession to a coring station, and means at said station to project through said perforation and'to remove the core from lthe half arranged thereover. f

j 9. The combination defined in claim 8 in which the core removing means. and the traveling support are actuated in timed relation.

10..A pea-r coring machine comprising a traveling belt provided with spaced openings approximating the outline of the core ofa pear half, guides on said belt arranged to position the blossom ends of the pear halves in proper relation to said openings, means to move said belt to bring said openings in succession to a coring station, a yielding member at said station to hold said halves firmly from upward movement, and a curved coring knife at said station arranged to project upwardly through said openings to remove the core section from the halves.

11. A pear stemming machine including means .to cause halved pears'to move flatwise in a definite path, and a stationary stem removing knife having a cutting edge disposed substantially transversely of said path4 projecting into said path with its cutting edges projecting into said path in position to remove the stem as the half is as it moves over said lmife.

13. The combination defined in claim 12 in which the stem removing knife is in the form of a loop with an inverted return bent tip having its cutting edge transverse to the line of travel of said belts.

14. machine for trimming fruit com-l prising means to intermittently brin halved fruit to. a coring station, a curve coring port, means to lmove sai knife at said station arranged to swing 'up-p wardly and remove the core, and a stationary lmife in position to remove a portion of the fruit half as it is bein moved by said first named means from sai coring station. V15. The combination dened in claim 14 in which the rst named means includes belts passing over a pulley rotating on a horizontal axis whereby the fruit will be discharged when the belt passes from the` upper tothe lower surface of said pulley.

16. A machine for trimming a halved pear comprising a traveling support for the fiat surface of the pear half, said support being provided with an opening closely surrounding said core, means to position the pear half on said support, means to yieldingly press the half toward said support, a curved coring knife mounted to swing through said opening, means to cause said support to move said pearehalf away from said coring knife, and a stem removing knife arranged to remove the stem of the pear during said movement of the support from said coring knife.

17.`The` combination defined in claim 16 in which the positioning means includes a pair of diverglng members arranged to eni gage the blossom end of'the pear half.

18. A machine for cutting the core from a halved fruit comprisin a traveling supsupport to bring the fruit halves in succession to a corin station, stops to position the fruit on sai support arranged to engage the blossom end of said fruit and a plurality of independently yielding centering and holding means engagmg the sides of the fruit to center said fruit on the support and hold it from lateral movement.

19. A fruit machine comprising a traveling support arranged to carry fruit halves in succession to a plurality of stations, sto s on said support to engage the blossom en s of the fruit halves to position the fruit on the support, and a plurality of independently yielding means cooperating with said stops and engaging the sides of the halves to center and hold the fruit halves from lateral movement.

20. A fruit machine comprising a traveling support, stops arranged in spaced relation o n said support to position fruit thereon by bringing the fruit in contact with said stops, independently movable yielding centerin and holding arms carried by said support 1n position to engage the sides of the fruit positioned by said stops and stationary means to retract said armswhen the support reaches a feeding station.

21. A fruit coring machine comprising means to support halved fruit around the core iiatwise on a substantially horizontall disposed surface; stationary means to yiel ingly press the halves against saidfsupport,

means to intermittently move said support to bring the halves successively beneath said stationar means, a curved cutter mounted for rotatlon about a substantially horizontal 5 axis to completely cut the core from the halves While so supported, and means to rotate said cutter between the movement of said support.

22. A fruit coring machine comprising a 10 flat perforated support for a halved fruit, means to yieldingly press a halved fruit against said support with the core thereof over a perforation in said support and a curved coring knife arranged beneath said 15 support to swing about a single axis throu hi said perforation to completely remove sald core, and mechanism to successively move said support and swing said curved coring knife.' v l 20 In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

ARTHUR L. DUNCAN. 

